Objective: Non-adherence to treatment in bipolar disorder can cause increased numbers of relapses and re-hospitalizations, severe impairment in functionality and increased risk of suicide attempts. Studies, investigated the associations between treatment adherence and temperament and character traits are limited in terms of quantity. In literature, there is only one study which researched relationships between affective temperament and treatment adherence in patients with bipolar disorder. Nevertheless, there is not any study which investigated associations between treatment adherence and temperament and character traits in bipolar disorder. In our study, it was aimed to investigate the associations between treatment adherence and temperament and character traits in patients with bipolar disorder.

Method: Fifty-eight patients with a diagnosis of bipolar disorder were included into study. Patients were divided into three groups according to their level of adherence; high adherence, moderate adherence and low adherence according to Morisky Medication Adherence Scale. Temperament and character scores were compared between groups by temperament and character inventory.

Results: After the comparison of all groups in terms of temperament traits, it was found that there was a significant difference between groups in terms of novelty seeking total score (F=4.12 p=0.03). Posthoc tests revealed that the low adherence group had significantly higher scores compared with other groups (p=0.04 ve p=0.03). There was a significant difference between groups in terms of scores of persistence (F= 5.79, p=0.04). Posthoc tests revealed that the low adherence group had significantly lower scores compared with other groups (respectively; p=0.02 ve p=0.04).

Conclusion: Our study is the first in terms of investigating the associations between treatment adherence and temperament and character traits in patients with bipolar disorder. However further studies are needed which will confirm our findings.